Does Interactive Video Advertising Drive Engagement or is it Simply Distracting Viewers?

Introduction

Marketers are often (rightly) skeptical of any new format. Some might wonder, for instance, if interactivity distracts viewers by providing an overwhelming amount of options, hurting brand recall.

This research by TubeMogul, the leading programmatic brand marketing platform for video advertising, and Innovid, whose iRoll® format is the standard for interactive video — quantifies the benefits of interactive pre-roll to brand marketers.

Methodology

Data for this report comes from top brand campaigns supported by Innovid and run through TubeMogul’s media buying platform, spanning hundreds of millions of impressions across pre-roll video ads globally. Brand lift data comes from TubeMogul’s BrandSights survey technology, which launched last year and has run hun- dreds of brand surveys on video campaigns.

For the purposes of this research, “lift” is defined as the absolute difference (subtraction) between the percent of correct answers of exposed viewers (people who saw the ad) and a control group (people that did not see the ad). “Correct” answers are defined as the answer that the brand desires and indicates a positive perception of the brand by the survey taker.

An interactive video ad “engagement” is defined as any action taken by a viewer to interact with an ad, usually hovering or clicking an icon to explore a slate of additional content. On a movie trailer, for instance, a viewer might hover to open a slate of content that lets them watch additional previews, find local showtimes and buy tickets – all within the ad unit itself. In most cases, when a viewer engages, the video’s playback is paused until the viewer closes out the additional content.

Findings

Conclusion

The data tells a clear story: interactive video advertising is a powerful tool for brand marketers. The format excels at driving awareness, loyalty and especially purchase intent as compared to regular pre-roll. With tools from Innovid and TubeMogul, advertisers can easily add interactivity to their video ads and dramatically increase engagement with their audiences.